Lawrence Lessig

Director, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, and Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

For much of his career, Lawrence Lessig focused his work on law and technology, especially as it affects copyright. His current work addresses “institutional corruption” — relationships which are legal, even currently ethical, but which weaken public trust in an institution.

Professor Lessig is the director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, and a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Prior to returning to Harvard, he was a professor at Stanford Law School, where he founded the school’s Center for Internet and Society, and at the University of Chicago. He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court.

He has won numerous awards, including the Free Software Foundation’s Freedom Award, and was named one of Scientific American’s Top 50 Visionaries. He is the author of Remix (2008), Code v2 (2007), Free Culture (2004), The Future of Ideas (2001) and Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace (1999). He is on the board of Creative Commons, MAPLight, Brave New Film Foundation, and more. He was a columnist for Wired, Red Herring, and the Industry Standard.